Aetna Joins Script Your Future Campaign To Help Patients Better Manage Their Medications

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With three out of four patients in the U.S. not taking their medications correctly, Aetna (NYSE: AET) joined the National Consumers League (NCL) Script Your Future campaign to help improve the health and well-being of Aetna members and reduce medical costs.

“Script Your Future works with health care stakeholders, business leaders and various government leaders. Together, we encourage patients and doctors to have discussions around the health consequences of non-adherence. Some locations even hosted events and declared official “Script Your Future”

According to a briefing paper by the National Consumers League and Duke University Medical Center, poor medication adherence results in up to $300 billion in health care costs, about 125,000 deaths and more than one-third of medicine-related hospital admissions each year. The Script Your Future campaign provides patients, family caregivers and health care professionals with tools and resources to help improve medication adherence. Script Your Future is a national campaign that includes targeted outreach in six cities around the nation: Birmingham, AL; Cincinnati, OH; Baltimore, MD; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Sacramento, CA; and Providence, RI.

“There are many understandable reasons patients don’t take their medication as directed,” said Edmund Pezalla, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Aetna Pharmacy. “However, the more patients understand the importance of taking their medicine properly, the more likely their adherence will improve. We believe our focus on prescription adherence will help our members live safer and healthier lives. It also will help produce long-term medical cost savings.”

“Medication adherence is a growing problem in the US and we are proud to show our support for this campaign,” said Mark Friedlander, Chief Medical Officer for Aetna Behavioral Health. “No matter what the health condition, taking medications correctly has a huge impact on all of our members. We continue looking for new ways to raise awareness and educate patients to improve their health and productivity.”

The Script Your Future website helps make it easier for patients to keep track of their medications. Such resources include:

• free text message reminders.
• medication lists.
• how-to videos.
• sample questions for patients to ask health care practitioners.
• condition management sheets.
• fact sheets on common chronic conditions.

This movement also invites patients to create a personal pledge of the reasons why they want to stay healthy. This pledge reminds them that taking their medicines and prescriptions as directed will help them live healthier, happier lives.

Aetna is committed to the Script Your Future campaign and continues to promote medication adherence education and awareness to its employees, members, employers and network providers.

“We are pleased to have Aetna on our team,” said Rebecca Burkholder, Vice President of Health Policy for the National Consumer s League. “Script Your Future works with health care stakeholders, business leaders and various government leaders. Together, we encourage patients and doctors to have discussions around the health consequences of non-adherence. Some locations even hosted events and declared official “Script Your Future” observance days in their communities. They provided in-person services to residents, education materials and brown bag medicine check-ups.”

About Script Your Future

Script Your Future is a campaign of the National Consumers League (NCL), a private, non-profit organization founded in 1899. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit www.ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information about NCL, please visit www.nclnet.org.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.7 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services and health information technology services. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.